A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Zingarelli, Niccolò

by Luigi Ricci

ZINGARELLI, Niccolò Antonio, born in Naples, April 4, 1752, eldest son of Riccardo Tota Zingarelli, a tenor singer and teacher of singing. In 1759 his father died, leaving his mother with four children and very poor. The eldest boy was chief clerk in the Musical College of S. Maria di Loreto, and Niccolò was at once admitted there as a resident pupil.^[1] Here he and Cimarosa learnt composition under Fedele Fenaroli, whose 'Partimenti' are still studied in the Neapolitan Conservatorio. Fenaroli was learned and religious, and his pupils loved him as a father. Although no great composer, he loved music, and as a teacher well deserves the gratititude of posterity. Zingarelli pursued his studies with such devotion as often tasked the patience of his master. When Fenaroli went for his autumn holidays to Ottaiano, his pupil would plod the eleven miles from Naples on foot, in order to submit to his master a fugue or motet, the return journey seeming but light if his composition were satisfactory. By the rules of his College he was bound to study an instrument, and he selected the violin, on which he soon became very proficient. In Latin he made great progress, and in old age was fond of airing his classical knowledge by frequent quotations. Among his teachers was Speranza, a learned contrapuntist, and the best pupil of Durante. Before leaving his College, Zingarelli produced his first opera, or rather intermezzo—'I Quattro Pazzi'—which was performed by the pupils in the Conservatorio.

Soon after leaving the Conservatorio we find him teaching the violin in the Gargano family at Torre Annunziata, near Naples. Later on he gave lessons to the Duchess of Castelpagano, under whose patronage he produced his first work at the San Carlo in 1779, the cantata 'Pigmalione,' which met with some success. On Aug. 13, 1781, his first opera, 'Montezuma,' was represented at the same house. It shows a style of the greatest simplicity and purity; and when afterwards performed in Vienna, Haydn praised it greatly, and foretold a career of success to its composer. Strongly recommended to the Archduchess Beatrice of Austria, he went to Milan, and was well received at the vice-regal court. Milan was to be henceforth the scene of Zingarelli's many triumphs, and for La Scala he wrote most of his serious and all his comic operas. He began there with 'Alsinda' in 1785, which greatly pleased the Milanese public, though composed in seven days and in ill health, if we are to believe Carpani, who wrote most of Zingarelli's librettos, and asserts that he was an ocular witness, not only of the above feat, but also of the composition of the whole of 'Giulietta e Romeo' in forty hours less than ten days. This really astounding facility was the result of Speranza's method of obliging his pupils to write the same composition many times over, with change of time and signature, but without any change in its fundamental poetical ideas. 'Alsinda' was soon followed by 'Armida,' 'Annibale,' 'Ifigenia in Aulide,' and 'Ricimero,' all given at La Scala during the two following years with enormous success.

Whilst thus satisfying the theatrical public, Zingarelli did not neglect his more congenial work of writing sacred music, and in 1787 he composed an oratorio of 'The Passion,' given at the church of S. Celso in Milan. From 1786 to 1788 he wrote nine cantatas, 'Alceste,' 'Hero,' 'Sappho,' 'Nice d'Elpino,' 'L'Amor filiale,' 'Alcide al bivio,' 'Telemaco,' 'Oreste,' and 'Il Trionfo di David'; all in Milan, except the last, which was given at San Carlo, Naples.

In 1789 Zingarelli was called to Paris to compose an opera for the Académie Royale de Musique. He arrived in the thick of the fight between the Piccinnists and Gluckists. Martnontel wrote for him the book of 'L'Antigone,' which was represented on April 30, 1790. This opera was performed in Paris only three times consecutively, the Revolution having more attractions than music for the Parisian public. Zingarelli, as both a conservative and a religious man, soon fled from Paris, and returned to Milan through Switzerland at the beginning of 1791. There he produced at La Scala, 'La Morte di Cesare,' and in the following year 'L'Oracolo sannita' and 'Pirro.'

In 1792 there was an open competition in Milan for the place of Maestro di cappella of the Duomo, the subject being a canon for eight voices, and Zingarelli was appointed. The independence and leisure of his new position did not prevent him from working as hard as ever, and he continued giving lessons and writing for the theatre. Among his many pupils of this time we may mention F. Pollini, to whom he dedicated his 'Partimenti' and his 'Solfeggi,' which soon became recognised text-books.

With 'La Secchia rapita,' in 1793, Zingarelli began a series of comic operas, which, although not to be compared for real worth with his serious operas, made his name popular, not only in Italy, but throughout Germany, where they were widely performed. 'Il Mercato di Monfregoso' soon followed, and is reputed his best opera buffa. In 1794 he composed 'Artaserse' for Milan, the 'Orazi e Curiazi' for the Teatro Reale of Turin, and 'Apelle e Campaspe' for the theatre La Fenice of Venice, in which opera Crescentini made his debut. The 'Conte di Saldagna' was unsuccessfully produced in 1795 at the same theatre in Venice; but this failure was grandly retrieved the following year by the performance of his greatest work, 'Romeo e Giulietta' at La Scala. Its beauty and popularity are shown by the fact that it has been played all over the continent for the greater part of a century.

Zingarelli was appointed in 1794 Maestro di Cappella at Loreto, which place he held for ten years. Here he wrote many operas, of which we may mention 'Clitennestra,' written expressly for Catalani, and 'Inez de Castro,' for Silva. His principal work, however, during these ten years was sacred music, to which he was inclined by his nature and by the duties of his office. In the archives of the Santa Casa of Loreto is accumulated an immense quantity of manuscript music, known by the name of 'Annuale di Loreto.' To this great collection Zingarelli contributed the astounding number of 541 works, inclusive of 28 Masses, which are still sung in that church. As it is forbidden to copy the music of the 'Annuale,' the outside world must remain ignorant of its merits. Zingarelli's masses, to those who heard them, have a spontaneity of expression, an easy facility of style, a simplicity, and, above all, a most entrancing melody. In the style called di cappella, in the music a pieno, no one has ever surpassed him. The writer of this notice has obtained a complete list of them, the only one ever made, which, duly certified and attested by the present Maestro di cappella of Loreto, is now deposited in the Library of the Royal College of Music.

When Napoleon was at Loreto, in 1796, he admired Zingarelli's music and befriended him, a fact which subsequently became very useful to the musician.

In 1804 Zingarelli succeeded Guglielmi as Maestro di cappella of the Sixtine Chapel in Rome. Here he set to music passages from the great Italian poets. Tancredi's Lamento, from the twelfth Canto of Tasso's 'Gerusalemme Liberata,' was performed in Naples in 1805, in the palace of the Prince di Pantelleria, where Zingarelli met Mme. de Stael, whom he had previously known in Paris as Mlle. Necker. The same year he gave in Rome 'La Distruzione di Gerusalemme' at the Theatre Valle, where it kept the boards for five consecutive years. He produced, seven years after, in Florence, 'La Riedificazione di Gerusalemme,' one of his very few failures. His opera 'Baldovino' was given in 1810 at the Theatre Argentina, and the following year 'Berenice' at the Theatre Valle, both in Rome. 'Berenice' was Zingarelli's last opera, and had a run of over a hundred consecutive representations; a thing unheard of in the thinly populated towns of Italy. But it was not his last work, as he continued writingto the last day of his life. 'Berenice' was composed after leaving Rome for Civita Vecchia on his forced journey to Paris; and one of its finest numbers, the finale of the first act, 'Già sparir vedo la sponda' was written on board ship.

We have now arrived at a memorable epoch of Zingarelli's life, when his already well-known name became illustrious among those of Italian patriots. When Napoleon, in the zenith of his imperial power, gave his son the pompous title of 'King of Rome,' he ordered rejoicings throughout all his dominions. A Te Deum was therefore arranged to be sung at St. Peter's in Rome; but when the authorities, both French and Italian, were assembled for the performance of this servile work, it was found to their consternation that the Maestro di cappella refused to have anything to do with it, and that nothing could induce him to acknowledge the rule of the Corsican usurper. He was arrested and, by Napoleon's orders, taken to Paris, where he was immediately set free and granted a pension. This he owed to the fact that Napoleon was fond, above all other, of Zingarelli's music, which he had heard in Italy in 1796, in Vienna in 1805, and in Paris in 1809. On the last occasion, when Crescentini sang the part of Romeo, Napoleon, much affected, sent him from his own breast the star of the order of the Iron Crown. He also ordered Zingarelli to compose for his Imperial Chapel a Mass that should not last more than twenty minutes, had it rehearsed in his presence, and was so pleased with it as to give the composer 6000 francs. During his stay in Paris, Zingarelli was replaced at Rome by Fioravanti. In July 1810 he left Paris for Naples, where in February 1813 he was appointed Director of the Royal College of Music. In 1816 he succeeded Paisiello as Maestro di cappella of the Neapolitan Cathedral; and held both these places until his death, May 5, 1837, at Torre del Greco, in his 86th year.

For the Birmingham Festival of 1829 Zingarelli wrote a Cantata on the 12th Chapter of Isaiah. As he could not take it to England himself he entrusted his pupil, Costa, with the mission, and this was the occasion of Costa's introduction to the English public. [See vol. i. p. 406.] Zingarelli's next conposition was a Hymn to commemorate the inauguration of the Philharmonic Society of Naples in Jan. 1835. His oratorio, 'The Flight into Egypt,' was written and performed only a few weeks before his death in 1837, thus proving how, even at that advanced age, Zingarelli still continued working.

Of his very numerous Masses, without reckoning the 28 in the 'Annuale di Loreto,' the best are—that of Novara; that of Dresden (commissioned by the King of Saxony, and performed in 1835 under the direction of Morlacchi, one of his pupils); a Requiem for the Neapolitan minister Medici; and another Requiem, composed for his own funeral.

Zingarelli was very simple and almost primitive in his way of living: rose early, worked hard all day, and, after partaking of a piece of bread and a glass of wine for his supper, retired early to rest. He used to write out his thoughts as soon as they occurred to him, and was quicker in composing than others would be in copying: when his imagination failed him he stopped. He had always more than one work on hand; and passed from one to another with the greatest ease. When composing he never touched the piano; and seldom erased or revised what he had once written. His strong religious feelings led him to live the life of an anchorite; nor was he free from the superstition so common among Italians. Never having married he loved his pupils as his children, working very hard with them; and he was happy in the great success which attended many of them, foremost among them being Bellini, Mercadante, Ricci, Costa, Florimo, etc. Many anecdotes are related of his indiscriminate almsgiving, which sometimes left him without the means of buying his own dinner, and caused him to die almost as poor as those whom he had helped.

Although in his 'Mercato di Monfregoso' and in his 'Secchia rapita' Zingarelli gives many proofs of a comic musical vein, he shone more in serious operas, and most of all in his numberless sacred compositions. Eminently conservative in style, and never deviating from the ancient landmarks, he was a most successful follower of Palestrina and Marcello. His sacred music is always well adapted to express the religious sentiment which he wishes to convey; it is never vague, extravagant or obscure; but is always limpid and natural, like a stream of placid water. His tunes invariably sustain each other, and do not infringe the laws of harmony, of good taste and of propriety. Whether his music weeps with Jeremiah, exults with Ambrose, threatens with the Prophets, prays with the Shunammite, or triumphs with the Angels, it is invariably solemn and worthy of the Temple. The adaptation of profane music to religious services, so common in Italian churches,^[2] he strenuously combated. His melodies originated in his heart, so full of faith and of charity; and for this reason his sacred music breathes something utterly devout and of celestial fragrance. In this lay the secret of his success. Art and science fad before the pious fervour of faith, which alone can lead the soul to worship and religious ecstasy. The design of his choruses is perfect and their colouring never false or overcharged. His fugues are held in high commendation for the completeness of their arrangement, and the clearness and taste with which they are written.

The writer has consulted all the published biographies of Zingarelli, and desires to express his obligations to Monsignor Muzzarelli's 'Biografie degli illustri Italiani,' to the Marchese Puoti's 'Brevi Notizie,' and to Villarosa's 'Elogio Storico.'

The following is a list of Zingarelli's operas and oratorios.

OPERAS.
Date.	Name.	First Performed.
1771	I quattro pazzi	Conservatorio, Naples.
1781	Montezuma	S. Carlo, Naples.
1785	Alsinda	Scala, Milan.
1786	Armida	Do.
1787	Annibale	Do.
{{{1}}}„	Ifigenia in Aulide	Do.
{{{1}}}„	Ricimero	Do.
1790	Antigone	Opera, Paris.
1791	Morte di Cesare	Scala, Milan.
1792	L'Oracolo Sannita	Do.
{{{1}}}„	Pirro	Do.
1793	La Secchia rapita	Do.
{{{1}}}„	Il Mercato di Montfregoso	Do.
1794	Arteserse	Do.
{{{1}}}„	Apelle e Campaspe	Fenice, Venice.
{{{1}}}„	Orazli e Curiazii	Reale, Turin.
1795	Conte di Saldagna	Fenice, Venice.
1796	Romeo e Giulietta	Scala, Milan.
{{{1}}}„	La Danaide	Do.
	Meleagro	Do.
	Mitridate	Fenice, Venice.
1798	Carolina e Menzikoff	Do.
1799	Edipo a Colona	Do.
{{{1}}}„	Il Ritratto	Scala, Milan.
1800	Il Ratto delle Sabine	Do.
1801	Clitennestra	Do.
1803	Il Bevitore fortunato	Do.
{{{1}}}„	Le Nozze di Dorina	Do.
{{{1}}}„	Inez di Castro	Do.
1810	Baldovino	Torre Argentina, Rome.
1811	Berenice	Valle, Rome.
ORATORIOS AND CANTATAS.
1779	Pigmalione	S. Carlo, Naples.
1786	Alceste	Milan.
{{{1}}}„	Hero	Do.
{{{1}}}„	Sappho	Do.
1787	The Passion	S. Celso, Milan.
{{{1}}}„	Nice d'Elpino	Do.
{{{1}}}„	L'Amore filiale	Do.
{{{1}}}„	Alcide al bivio	Do.
{{{1}}}„	Telemaco	Do.
1788	Oreste	Do.
{{{1}}}„	Il Trionfo di David	S. Carlo, Naples.
1804	Francesca da Rimini	Rome.
1805	Tancredi al Sepolcro di Clorinda	Naples.
{{{1}}}„	La Distruzione di Gerusalemme	Valle, Rome.
1809	Conte Ugolino	Paris.
1812	La Riedificazione di Gerusalemme	Florence.
1829	Isaiah	Birmingham.
1833	Saul	S. Michael, Rome.
1835	Hymn of Inauguration	Philharmonic Soc. Naples.
1837	The Flight into Egypt	Naples.

Also 541 MS. works in the 'Annuale di Loreto,' a detailed and complete list of which is in the library of the Royal College of Music.

One of the few of Zingarelli's works published in England is a motet 'Go not far from me,' translated from 'Christus e miserere' in Hullah's Part Music.

[ L. R. ]

1. See Naples, vol. ii. p. 444.
2. See Mendelssohn's Letter from Venice, Oct. 16, 1830.